Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry, a Pakistani native and longtime U.S. resident who once served in the American military, has been taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry, a U.S. Army veteran from Pakistan, was detained by ICE while attending a citizenship interview. REUTERS/Al Drago/File Photo(REUTERS)
Chaudhry was being arrested this morning during what was to be his appointment at the naturalisation interview in Tukwila, Washington, according to Fox 13 Seattle.
Records in ICE’s detention database, reviewed by Newsweek, confirm that Chaudhry is currently being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.
Who is Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry?
He enlisted in the 1990s and served into the early 2000s, until he was medically discharged after sustaining an injury that left him with ongoing back and neck problems.
Today, Chaudhry relies on a wheelchair, according to his wife, Melissa Chaudhry, who is also running for Congress in Washington’s 9th District.
“ICE has stolen a beloved husband, a fiercely tender father, and a passionately patriotic American. We are all the poorer for it. My family will suffer every day he is apart from us and I have no idea when I will see Zahid again,” she told Newsweek.
“He came to this interview in good faith. ICE must release this decorated, disabled American veteran—return the heart of my family—and show the world that America still stands for justice and peace.”
Melissa told The Seattle Times that her husband has lived in the United States for around 25 years and has been working toward citizenship for a long time. He already holds a green card.
This comes amid the Trump administration immigration crackdown, which is the biggest mass deportation operation that has been carried out in U.S. history, and has targeted undocumented immigrants and, in some instances, individuals holding green cards, visas or long-standing residency.
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More than a decade ago, ICE pursued deportation proceedings against him over a misdemeanor fraud charge from Australia. The Olympian reported Chaudhry did not disclose the charge on his 2001 U.S. visa application and was also accused of misrepresenting his citizenship status on an application to become a reserve officer for the Yakima Police Department.
However, Chaudhry maintained that at that time he did not understand the consequences of the Australian case and did not recall misrepresenting himself on the police application.